


Never Tell Me The Odds

by duchessofthemoonbase



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28796658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duchessofthemoonbase/pseuds/duchessofthemoonbase
Summary: Rey Kenobi isn’t always Rey Kenobi. Online she’s alderaancinnamonbuns, one of only two writers regularly posting in the Han/Leia fanfiction tag.Meanwhile, she’s spending her sophomore year of college arguing with Poe Dameron, the guy in her poetry class who just can’t seem to let her win a debate.—but there’s something about Poe she doesn’t know.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 87
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

_Han’s eyes met hers as they froze in the middle of the hallway, the meaning behind his gaze impossible to misinterpret. This spark, this fire between them had burned on for far too long, and Leia knew that she could hold back no longer. She reached her hand up to stroke Han’s cheek, her heart racing as—_

“Good morning, everyone! Let’s begin, shall we? Our focus this week is on Emily Dickinson, and I’m so excited to hear what you thought of the assigned readings.”

Rey jumped, quickly minimizing her word document to look up at Dr. Mothma. Back to reality, then. Han and Leia would have to wait.

“There are many things to keep in mind about Dickinson’s background while exploring her work,” Dr. Mothma said. “Her isolation, her religious upbringing, what appears to be a strong romantic attachment to her brother’s wife, as well as the…”

Rey smiled as she listened. She loved Dr. Mothma’s poetry lectures, the process they went through each week of dissecting poems until they uncovered each of their secrets one by one. It was easily her favorite class this semester, but as an English major she was probably biased in that respect.

“Now,” Dr. Mothma said, pushing her glasses up her nose. “What aspect of Emily’s life do you think had the most influence on her writing?”

Rey raised her hand, her argument poised and ready. “I’d say her religious upbringing,” she said assuredly. “Nearly all of her poems are written in hymn meter, after all.”

Rey knew what was coming before she had even finished speaking.

“I’m not actually so sure about that,” said Poe Dameron, the only other English major in the class.

Rey couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. She knew debate was encouraged, but for once in her life could she just make one freaking point without this asshole immediately trying to prove her wrong?

“Dickinson’s life was marked more by her _resistance_ to her Puritan upbringing than by her adherence to it,” Poe said. “When she was at school she was one of only a few students who refused to take a religious oath.”

Rey straightened herself in her chair. “I think the poems being written in hymn meter intrinsically makes them religious, don’t you think?” she challenged.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps she meant it as a kind of irony.”

“I think it was a deliberate homage.”

“Just because something is in hymn meter doesn’t automatically make it religious.”

“Well I think it does.”

“You know what else is in hymn meter?” Poe asked, unable to help laughing to himself.

Rey exhaled, barely masking her annoyance. “What?”

“The _Pokémon_ theme song,” he said. “Which is, as everyone knows, the _quintessential_ song that we associate with 19th century New England Puritans.”

Rey grumbled, unable to think of a retort. How dare he humiliate her like this? _Again._

Dr. Mothma stood silently at the front of the small lecture hall. “You both make compelling arguments,” she noted, familiar with the antics of her two most combative students by this point in the semester. “Does anybody else want to take a side in this debate?”

As usual, the room fell silent. No one dared.

***

Rey walked back to her dorm room, trying not to inhale the freezing January air as she made her way up a steep hill. It was only two weeks into the second semester of her sophomore year, and she already felt sick of her routine.

Dr. Mothma’s poetry class was the first real English course she’d been able to take—most of her previous classes had been Gen Ed credits; math and foreign language and marketing and a pile of other things she only half cared about.

Literature was the real reason she’d come here. She’d spent the early years of her life with her grandfather, the late Ben Kenobi, in a run down house without air conditioning or even a television.

But there were books. There were always books.

Ben had shared all of his favorites with her: Charles Dickens and Langston Hughes and Jane Austen. Those were the happy moments of her terrible childhood: Ben cracking open the spine of a crumbling paperback, his eyes bright as he showed her new worlds to explore. When Ben died when she was twelve and she’d been placed into the foster system, those stories were all she’d had.

Perhaps English wasn’t the most practical major for a girl like her, a girl with no one and nothing to support her but a hard-won scholarship and her savings from her summer job as a waitress. But when it came down to choosing, everything else had felt wrong.

She wouldn’t be here without stories. She owed them her attention.

Rey opened the door to her room and sat down on her tiny bed, immediately pulling her laptop back out of her backpack.

Speaking of stories, it was time to get back to Han and Leia.

_Hoth was freezing, but nothing chilled Leia quite so much as the prospect of Han leaving the rebellion. After all that they’d been through together, was he really going to leave? Perhaps she was a fool to think that he had changed. She had always known that—_

“Hey!”

Rey quickly switched tabs and smiled as she watched her roommate, Rose Tico, waltz into the room with a large coffee in one hand. “What are you up to?”

“Just homework,” Rey said.

“Sweetie, I’ve said it once and I’ve said it before. You work too hard! Just once will you come to a party with me and Finn this weekend?”

“I like staying in, Rose,” she replied. “I promise. You guys go on without me.”

“If you’re sure,” Rose said, walking over to squish her in a hug. “I worry about you, that’s all.”

Rey sighed and looked back at her laptop, refreshing the Han/Leia tag on ao3. She wished Rose didn’t pity her so much. She really did detest frat parties—she’d so much rather be wrapped up in bed with a cup of tea, off in a galaxy far far away…

She smiled as she saw a new story pop up at the top of the tag: _Endor Espresso_ by flyboyonthefalcon. A coffeeshop au! And by her favorite writer too!

Rey felt like her heart was glowing as she began to read the story, which was fluffy and tropey and everything she could have wished for. The set-up so far was brilliant: Leia was a barista and Han was the customer who always sat sullenly in the corner after ordering one black coffee. (And of course, Han was already falling for Leia’s charms). Rey grinned as she came to the end of the first chapter, clicked the kudos button, and began to type her comment:

**alderaancinnamonbuns:** This was amazing! I’ve always wanted to see a coffeeshop au with them and I’m so glad you’re the one writing it! I loved the moment when Leia put his order on the table before he even came in. That was when Han could tell she’d taken notice of him, and it was so cute! I love this so far! <3

The author responded back only a moment later:

**flyboyonthefalcon:** Thanks alderaancinnamonbuns! I’m so happy you liked this, as I was thinking a lot of your rival comic book store owners au while writing it: it’s one of my all-time favorites. :)

Rey beamed. She and flyboyonthefalcon had already developed a bit of a friendship through their ao3 comments. Despite _Star Wars_ being the massively popular franchise that it was, there just weren’t that many people actively writing about Han and Leia after forty years. Most of the time it was just her and flyboyonthefalcon, and so they remained each other’s biggest fans.

“You know,” Rose said, interrupting her thought. “Finn has some hot friends. Like _really_ hot friends. I could introduce you, if you like? Have you seen that Poe Dameron?”

“Oh, god,” Rey said, scowling. “No.”

“You don’t think he’s hot? I think he’s positively gorgeous.”

“It’s not that, it’s just—” Rey grimaced at her laptop screen. “He’s in my poetry class, and well, he’s kind of a dick.”

“Really?” Rose said. “He’s always been very sweet to me.”

“Must be nice,” Rey snarked.

“Alright honey, I’ll take your word for it.” Rose said, grabbing her wallet and making for the door. “Want to grab some early dinner?”

“Not yet,” Rey said, still furiously typing away at Han and Leia working through their feelings on Hoth. She had a box of Pop-Tarts that would do just fine for tonight.

“I’ll bring you back some pasta,” Rose said.

As soon as Rey saw the door shut behind her, she pulled up YouTube and found an instrumental of the _Pokémon_ theme song.

She lowered her voice to a whisper and began to sing to herself: “Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me; The carriage held but just ourselves, And Immortality. Pokémon!”

“FUCK!” Rey said, and slammed the laptop shut.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh _no._

Rey was already tucked under her covers when the email popped up, mere minutes away from falling asleep after a long day. It was two in the morning, and Rose’s snores were echoing off the walls.

After five years, _Scoundrel & Princess _had been updated.

 _Scoundrel & Princess_ was the most notorious of the Han and Leia fics, a sprawling epic that dated back years before Rey had even started writing. Everyone had read it, and people had been begging the author to finish it for years with no success.

But there it was. The author had finished the story, posting the rest all in one go. Twenty new chapters were up, appearing like some sort of miracle.

Rey ghosted her thumb over her phone’s off button. She’d just…peek at it. Read a couple of paragraphs. Then she’d go to bed.

***

The next morning Rey threw on her jacket and stumbled out of her dorm, narrowly dodging students as she made her way to the dining hall. She’d only gotten about an hour of sleep, and her entire body felt weighed down by exhaustion, as if she was walking in a drunken stupor.

She struggled to push the glass door of the dining hall open and then made a beeline for the coffee station. It might have to be a two-cup kind of morning.

But whatever—it had been worth it. She’d gotten sucked into the story again, rubbing at her eyes and struggling to stay awake until she got to the last word at six a.m.; crashing into a deep and short-lived sleep as soon as Han and Leia got their happy ending.

Rey grabbed one of the chipped mugs and stuck it under the coffee machine, slamming her finger down on the button. She couldn’t remember ever wanting caffeine so bad.

The machine sputtered, struggling to drip out coffee until the mug was filled almost halfway. The damned thing was often broken or empty, and always, it seemed, when Rey needed it the most.

“Oh come _on_ ,” she mumbled, grabbing the mug and staring at its contents. Well, a half a cup was better than nothing.

“Excuse me.”

Rey turned around to see Poe Dameron squeeze in next to her, taking a mug and sticking it under the machine. She watched from the corner of her eye as he pressed the button, the machine making a sickly noise and only squeezing out a few drops.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Poe grumbled to himself, whacking the side of the machine.

“It was being rude to me, too,” Rey said, sipping at her mug.

“Did you…” Poe stared into her mug. “It gave you coffee.”

She shrugged. “Only half a cup.”

Poe held out his empty mug. “Pour half of yours in mine,” he said. “I’ll give you five bucks.”

“Oh _wow,_ ” Rey said, shaking her head shamefully. “You _are_ a caffeine addict, aren’t you?”

“I had a really long night last night.”

Rey scoffed. He _did_ look tired—he had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was more mussed than usual. But he certainly wasn’t studying—he was probably out…well…doing whatever stupid shenanigans she was sure he usually did.

“Well, I was up late too,” Rey said, taking a long sip. “I need it.”

“Really!?” Poe asked. “You won’t give me a quarter cup of coffee for five whole dollars? That’s more crazy than me _paying_ you the five dollars for it.”

Rey chugged down the rest of the mug’s contents before setting it on the counter with a satisfying clink. “Nope,” she smiled. “See you in class.”

***

Dr. Monica Mothma couldn’t quite get past the silence in her Introduction to Poetry lecture that day.

Today they were discussing fascinating poems, ambiguous ones that were were ripe with opportunities for debate. And yet her two brightest students, the two who were always so eager to prove each other wrong, were totally silent. Rey Kenobi looked like she’d just climbed out of bed and Poe Dameron looked even worse; like he was recovering from a hangover or the flu. Both were struggling to keep their eyes open. A truce for today, then.

Some other professor must have had an exam or a paper due—that must be it. She didn’t know what else would have kept them both up so late on a Wednesday night.

***

Rey went to bed early on Thursday and woke up on Friday feeling refreshed. Her assignments for the week were in, the coffee machine was fixed, and better yet, _Endor Espresso_ had updated. Rey sat down at her desk, smiling as she began to read through the latest chapter.

_“Come on,” Han said, holding out his empty mug. “What’s a free refill between friends?”_

_“You loitering every day doesn’t make us friends,” Leia snarked. “You’re going to have to pay for your coffee like everyone else.”_

_Han smiled at her as she walked away laughing. He watched as she stood behind the counter and took orders from customers. She looked beautiful in the morning sunlight, tired but strong. She’d survived against the odds, and Han thought that made her all the more beautiful._

Rey sighed happily as she typed out her comment:

**alderaancinnamonbuns:** amazing new chapter!! :) Han is absolutely falling for her at this point!

**flyboyonthefalcon:** he absolutely is! (whether Leia gives him free refills or not). Sorry the update was late this week: I’m sure you saw _Scoundrel & Princess_ updated and I had to read the whole thing the second I got the email. No regrets though. ;)

**alderaancinnamonbuns:** Right!? It was so good!

“Happy Fridaaaay!” Rose sang, bursting through the door.

“Hey,” Rey smiled, still scrolling through her laptop.

“ _So,”_ Rose said, and Rey stiffened at her tone. “I’ve made an executive decision.”

“Uh oh.”

“Yup,” Rose said, jumping up and down excitedly. “You’re going to a party tonight!”

Rey shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“It’ll be fun,” Rose said. “We’ll just go for fifteen minutes, and Finn and I will stick with you the whole time. And if you don’t like it, you can go home. I promise.”

Rey sighed, knowing that arguing with Rose would exhaust her more than attending the actual party. “Fine. But just for a while.”

***

Rey hunched over her laptop as the evening wore on, editing her story until it was perfect. It was the first chapter of her new project, a fake dating story that took place in canon called _Sometimes We Amaze Even Ourselves_.

_"Han and I are going on this mission together?" Leia asked._

_Han laughed. "Well, don't sound so disappointed, sweetheart."_

_"There's one detail I forgot to mention," General Rieekan said. "In order to blend in, the two of you must...um..."_

_"Must what, General?"_

_"You must...pretend to be a married couple."_

“It’s timeeeee!!!!” Rose screeched, suddenly stumbling through the door with her boyfriend, Finn.

“Hey Rey,” Finn said, and she waved and smiled back before looking over at Rose, who was practically spinning in circles.

Rey squinted. “Did she…?”

“Pregame a bit already?” Finn whispered. “Yup.”

“Come _on,_ Rey!” Rose squealed. “Let’s be PARTY PEOPLE!”

“Alright, alright,” Rey laughed, putting on her jacket. She saved the chapter as a draft on her ao3 account. She’d read it over once more on her phone and post it on the walk over.

They went out into the cold, following groups of students to a sorority house on the far side of campus. She walked slightly behind Rose and Finn, proofreading the chapter for any errors. She pressed the ‘post’ button, smiled, and slipped her phone back into her pocket.

“Rey!!!!” Rose said, pulling her forward and squishing her between her and Finn. “You’re finally out with us! Rey! Rey!!!!”

“So we’ve heard,” Finn joked, laughing at his girlfriend. “How much vodka did you put in that drink again?”

“Ohhhh,” Rose said, spinning around as she walked. “Just like…the vodka amount, you know?”

Rey and Finn watched in amusement as she danced her way to the party. “No more for her, I think,” she laughed.

“Nope,” Finn said. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on her.”

The three of them walked up the steps to the house, where they were suddenly overwhelmed by laughter and music and the smell of stale beer. Rey crossed her arms, looking around. The party didn’t exactly look like a fun place to be unless you were totally drunk, and Rey usually just stuck to one drink. She didn’t see anything worth sticking around for yet.

She followed Finn to a table that was set up with snacks, taking a beer and filling a plate with Tostitos. Rose was already dancing with some girls in the middle of the room, oblivious to anyone else’s presence.

“Not your scene, huh?” Finn asked.

“Not really,” she admitted.

He shrugged. “Me either. But what else is there to do around here?”

They stood by the wall chatting and watching Rose dance as more people showed up to the party. Finn introduced her to two of his friends, Beaumont and Jannah, and the four of them got a good conversation going about what tv shows they’d watched over the last year.

Rey smiled as Beaumont seconded one of her points about _The Good Place._ Maybe this party wouldn’t be so bad—she’d found nice people to talk to.

“Finn!”

Rey tried to hide her displeasure as she watched Poe Dameron make his way over. He looked nice, far more alive than he had during their last encounter at the coffee station. He wore jeans and a plaid flannel shirt rolled up to show his forearms.

“Hey man!” Finn said, pulling him in for a hug. “Glad you could make it.”

“Of course,” Poe said, smiling at the rest of their group. “What are we talking about?”

“The love triangle on _Stranger Things,”_ Jannah said. “Finn was just saying that—”

Poe pulled his phone out of his pocket, breaking into a smile as he unlocked the screen. “Sorry guys,” he said, ducking away. “It’s important.”

He walked over to the other side of the room as they looked over at him, dumbfounded.

“Well that was rude,” Rey said, turning to Jannah. “He cut you off right in the middle of your sentence.”

“Look at him though,” Finn laughed. “Look at his face.”

Poe was standing in an empty corner of the room, scrolling through his phone wearing the goofiest grin Rey had ever seen. The screen was held close to his face, his hand shielding it from passersby.

“He’s not telling me something,” Finn said. “It has to be a girl.”

“Nudes,” Beaumont said. “It’s gotta be nudes.”

“God, look at him giggling over there,” Jannah said, astounded. “Must be one hell of a girl to make Poe Dameron smile like that.”

Rey rolled her eyes and took another sip of her beer. “Well,” she said. “I still think he was being rude.”

The conversation went back to television, Rey zoning out as Beaumont and Jannah started a debate on the merits of Steve Harrington. Poe was still standing in the corner. Why come to a party if he was just going to be on his phone? It probably _was_ a girl. Figured that Poe Dameron would ditch his friends to go text some chick in the corner of the room by himself.

Rey yawned and threw out the rest of her chips. “I’m out for the night,” she told Finn. “You’ve got the Rose situation under control?”

“Yep,” he said. “I’ll have her back to your room by one.”

“Thanks,” Rey said, waving goodbye to the group. She liked the people here—but it was still too loud, too busy, and she was eager to be wrapped up in the warmth and quiet of her own bed.

She took out her phone as she walked up the stairs to her door. The first chapter of _Sometimes We Amaze Even Ourselves_ that she’d posted on the way to party had gotten a few kudos already, and of course, a comment from flyboyonthefalcon.

**flyboyonthefalcon:** Thanks so much for this new story! I really needed it tonight. Do you ever get that feeling like you’re alone in a crowded room? I feel like that right now, and reading your story made me feel…a little less alone, I guess.

**alderaancinnamonbuns:** I’m glad you like it so far. And yeah. I know exactly what you mean.


	3. Chapter 3

Rey didn’t like the look on Dr. Mothma’s face.

Over the years she’d learned to recognize this look in her teachers, that expression of eager mischief they sometimes had as they watched their students file in. It always meant something agonizing was ahead—a weird team building exercise or a pop quiz or a bizarre guest lecturer. It made her feel uneasy.

She took her usual seat and pulled out her notebook, quickly flipping away from an outline she’d done for her fake dating AU in her previous class. Didn’t need anybody catching sight of that.

A few minutes later Poe Dameron walked in. He looked nice today, in dark jeans and a gray button-down with the sleeves rolled up. Not that Rey was taking particular notice of it or anything. Everybody had days where they looked better than others, and even the likes of Poe Dameron were no exception.

“Good morning,” Dr. Mothma said, picking up a stack of papers. “I have some exciting news for you all today.”

Rey shifted in her seat, wincing as she received the handout.

**Intro to Poetry Essay Project: You and a partner will pick a theme and identify ten poems that you think best represent it. You will support these choices in a collaborative 15-page paper. The project will count for 40% of your final grade.**

Oh well, it could have been worse.

Rey turned around and nodded at Jessika Pava, the only person she really knew in this class. They nodded at each other. Good. She had her partner.

“And—” Dr. Mothma said, walking over to her computer. “Before you go picking partners, I’ve put everyone’s names into a randomizer. Let’s see here…”

Jess looked at her and shrugged. _Damn it,_ Rey thought. A fifteen-page paper was a lot to figure out with a partner, especially a random one.

Dr. Mothma began reading off names from the computer, and Rey doodled on her paper nervously.

“Rey Kenobi, your partner is…”

_Please, please, let it be someone decent. Someone nice and smart and not completely insane._

“…Poe Dameron.”

_Shit._

Rey took a deep breath, trying to mask her obvious disappointment as Poe turned to her and smiled politely.

This was going to be a complete nightmare. Poe was going to be impossible to work with. He was going to put down all of her ideas, argue with her endlessly. They’d never agree on anything, and then the paper would never get written, and then they’d both fail the class, and then—

Rey started to attention as she realized that Dr. Mothma had dismissed class, the students dispersing and going out the door.

“Hey!” Poe said, waving her down as she started to leave. “So—”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Do you want to meet soon to brainstorm some ideas? I’m free in the afternoon tomorrow.”

Rey sighed. She wished she could say no, but she figured she couldn’t avoid this stupid project forever. “Yeah,” she said. “Tomorrow works.”

“Want to meet at the library at say…two?”

“Sure,” Rey shrugged. “Okay.”

“Cool,” Poe said. “I’ll see you then.”

Rey rolled her eyes dramatically the second Poe was out of sight. How could she have been so unfortunate as to land him as a partner? She’d be forced to spend hours with him until they got this stupid project done. For forty percent of her grade to depend on her getting along with Poe Dameron was simply unfair.

Besides, he was probably a really shitty writer.

***

**_Sometimes We Amaze Even Ourselves: Chapter 2._ By alderaancinnamonbuns.**

_Leia sulked in her chair as the falcon lurched into hyperspace._

_“So,” Han said, smirking at her. “I bet you’re excited to be married to me.”_

_“It’s a pretend marriage,” she snapped. “It doesn’t mean a thing.”_

_“Either way,” Han said, leaning back in the pilot’s chair. “We’re going to have to spend a lot of quality time together on this trip, so you better start getting used to me.”_

_Leia rolled her eyes, but couldn’t resist a smile as soon as Han turned away. Although she hadn’t initially been happy about this assignment, she had to admit that she was curious to see what it would bring. Han Solo wasn’t only a difficult man, but at times a mysterious one, and part of her was curious to see what made him tick._

**flyboyonthefalcon:** I can already tell this mission is going to be amazing! I’m sure once they’re forced to spend some time together their real feelings for each other are going to start to come out!

**alderaancinnamonbuns:** I know right!? I love these two oblivious idiots. They just need a little push, lmao. xD

***

Rey dunked her empty coffee cup into a nearby trash bin as she drudged her way over to the library the next day. She’d bought herself a fancy drink as a sort of bribe to herself to get her to show up to this stupid meeting; but instead of the coffee waking her up, it was just beginning to make her feel queasy and jittery.

She walked into the library, comforted already by the smell of books and the quiet sound of people typing softly or browsing through the stacks. As she walked through, she found herself already harboring a wish that maybe Poe had forgotten to show up. Yeah—maybe he’d forgotten. Maybe he’d dropped the class and moved away, and she’d get to do the paper by herself. Maybe—

“Rey!”

She turned around to see Poe seated at a table in the corner of the library, waving her over.

Oh well. So much for that.

“Hey,” Poe said. “Does this table work for you?”

“Sure,” she said, dropping her backpack on the floor. _I’d prefer if you weren’t sitting at it, but okay._

“So, since I got here a bit early, I went ahead and brought back some poetry anthologies that we can browse through. I figured it would help us come up with a good theme.”

“Alright,” she said, grabbing the top book from the stack. “Let’s see what we can find.”

She flipped through the pages of the anthology, seeing poems about love and hate and sorrow. Any potential theme she thought of felt either too broad or too narrow.

“Any ideas?” Poe asked.

“Not yet.”

Poe picked up another book and scanned the index, searching for something that could work. She watched as his face narrowed in concentration, his attention captivated by the language.

“Wonder,” Poe said.

“Sorry?”

“Wonder,” he said. “As our theme. I think it could be really neat.”

Rey grimaced. She refused to let Poe be the one to have their winning idea. “I don’t know. I don’t get it.”

“You know...” Poe said, his eyes lighting up. “Wonderment at the beauty of the universe. The vastness of it. The feeling you get looking up at the sky and imagining the stars and planets. Whole other worlds…”

Rey sighed. She couldn’t deny that she liked the idea. “Fine.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“You just seem like you’re in a bad mood, that’s all.”

“It’s none of your business,” she said, giving him a cold look.

Poe frowned. “Okay then. Sorry I asked.” He opened up his laptop and sighed. “Why don’t you search for some poems that could work and I’ll type out a draft of our thesis.”

“Alright.”

Rey stared at the clock as she opened up another poetry book. They hadn’t specified an end time for their meeting, but she was already wondering how soon she could leave without it seeming totally inappropriate.

“Here’s a Dickinson one about the moon,” she said, writing the title down. Poe just smiled.

“Dickinson, eh?”

“Can we…can we just not talk about that.”

“About how I ruined your argument with a well-timed _Pokémon_ reference?” he joked. “We should _absolutely_ talk about that.”

“I’m not the one who spent the entirety of Friday’s party messing around on their phone,” Rey snapped.

“Wooow,” Poe said, smirking. “I didn’t realize you were paying so much _attention_ to me.”

Rey scoffed and looked right at him. “I don’t know where you get your delusions, la—”

They were interrupted by another student, just in time for Rey to see a small hint of delight and surprise appear in Poe’s eyes.

“Hey,” the student said. “Do you mind if I sit here and use this outlet?”

“Sure,” they replied, watching silently as he took a seat next to them and opened up his laptop. The presence of a stranger at the table had apparently silenced their argument for good.

“Can I see what you’ve come up with so far?” Rey asked, gesturing toward the laptop.

Poe nodded, sliding it across the table.

She read his draft of their thesis, scanning it for any errors. “This needs work,” she said.

“What’s the issue with it?”

“It’s just not where it needs to be.”

Poe only laughed. “I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t know, I just don’t like your writing.”

“Okay then,” Poe said. “Do you want to give it a shot?”

“Fine,” Rey said. “I will.”

“Alright,” Poe said. “Email it to me soon?”

“Whatever,” she replied, gathering her things and getting up.

“Rey, wait—”

“What.”

“I know you don’t like me,” Poe said, nervously running a hand through his hair. “And I know you don’t want to work with me. But I just wanted you to know that the feeling isn’t mutual. I really am trying to be your friend.”

“Thanks,” Rey said. She gave him a polite but weak smile, turned around, and left.

***

**_Endor Espresso: Chapter 4._ By flyboyonthefalcon**

_Han watched as Leia placed his coffee in front of him. When he sipped at it he found it lukewarm and bitter, and knowing Leia, it was probably on purpose._

_“Bad day?” he asked her._

_“I don’t need to tell you how my day was,” Leia said._

_“If you say so.”_

_Han watched her as she refilled the box of sugar packets at the counter. She was witty and sharp and strong, and the only person Han had ever met who didn’t bore him to death. He liked their arguments more than he cared to admit, but maybe Leia had interpreted them the wrong way. He didn’t hate her—in fact it was quite the opposite._

_He watched as more customers came in, and Leia continued to smile at each and every one of them—everyone except him._

**alderaancinnamonbuns:** This broke my heart—poor Han!!! Ahhhh, you’re such a good writer, flyboy! :D I could read your grocery lists!


End file.
